Whoa, have you guys seen Matthew McConaughey lately?! The dude who's just as famous his super-buff bod and chilled-out stoner/cowboy drawl as he is for his many starring roles in big movies? Well, I don't know about the drawl, but the super-buff bod is gone. Gone! Like so many dedicated thespians before him (Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway), the 42-year-old actor reportedly dropped at least 30 pounds to play the lead in his upcoming film The Dallas Buyers Club; indeed, in recent pics taken on the movie's set in New Orleans, McConaughey looks downright skeletal. Yikes!!

Now, if you're like me, your first reaction to these shocking photos might be something like, "Jeez, Matt, eat a bucket of fried chicken, will ya?! It's just a movie, man!" But unlike some of the aforementioned stars' dangerous crash diets, I actually respect McConaughey's commitment to representing his character accurately. That's because this particular character truly deserves the effort.

TheDallas Buyers Club is the true story of Ron Woodruff, a drug user who contracted HIV in the '80s and was forced to smuggle life-saving medications from Mexico. Sad and tragic, yes, but ultimately an inspiring tale: Woodruff starts out as a "drug taking, women loving, homophobic man" with just 30 days to live and ends up a sort of folk hero famous for bringing non-toxic and anti-viral medications to other AIDS patients in this country (when AZT was the only FDA-approved option).

To sum up, I feel like McConaughey isn't just doing the near-death diet for a film thing as a way of showing off how much of a method actor he can be or what amazing willpower he has. I feel like he's motivated by respect for the character he's playing and the story he's telling. But I still think he needs to eat a bucket of fried chicken.

Do you think Matthew McConaughey is starving himself for a good cause?